Angolan peace-building efforts shift from repatriation to reintegration
Angolans across the country are working together to build a common future after the devastation of nearly three decades of war. Reflecting this, the work of UNHCR is shifting from repatriating the hundreds of thousands of Angolans who fled the war, to helping them reintegrate with those who stayed behind.
CAZOMBO, Angola, Mar 16 (UNHCR) - Early in the morning Angolan men and women file into a compound in this remote town. It is a mixed bunch - former refugees; those who had fled fighting to other parts of their country; and those who stuck it out through years of war. But they all share a common aim: to build a better future.
One group of men gather under a tarpaulin to get hands-on experience in repairing motorcycles; nearby another group stand at work benches learning carpentry. Inside a classroom in the women's centre which was the first structure built in the compound, men and women receive instruction in fish farming.
All are intent on acquiring skills that will ensure a livelihood as one of the poorest parts of one of the world's poorest countries emerges from nearly three decades of war. It is also a way to reintegrate those who fled to neighbouring countries back into a region that was torn first by a struggle against the former Portuguese colonial rulers and then by years of brutal civil war.
The training project in the remote province of eastern Angola, started by UNHCR with funds provided by Norway's Statoil oil company, reflects the shift in the priorities of the UN refugee agency this year. It is a step on from the voluntary repatriation of Angolan refugees over the previous three years which was just the first step in their return to normal life.
When a peace agreement was signed in 2002 to end the 27 years of war, there were an estimated 457,000 Angolans living as refugees outside the country's borders. Since then more than 360,000 are estimated to have come home, including 123,000 brought back by UNHCR, 89,000 who returned on their own but received UNHCR assistance on arrival, and a further 149,000 who repatriated without any UN help.
Now the focus is on reintegrating these people into Angola - and ensuring that the process will continue after UNHCR's role is over. In an era of shrinking donor interest in Angola that means UNHCR must target its resources carefully - using them to start projects that will become self-sufficient, provide a model for other organisations and attract funding from other sources.
"It's a challenge," said Enrique Valles, the UNHCR official in the capital Luanda who is in charge of planning sustainable reintegration. "We have to play a catalytic role and be creative, to establish strong links as much as possible with our partners."
UNHCR is a humanitarian agency providing legal protection to refugees, while prime responsibility inside the United Nations for development falls to other agencies. The end of the official repatriation last December signalled the start of a phasing-down operation that will see UNHCR's current offices in the interior of Angola closed by the end of 2007, leaving only the main office in Luanda.
But the development needs of Angola are vast. Last year's UN Human Development Report showed the country had improved - but it was still the 160th least-developed country of 177 that were monitored. Life expectancy is about 41 years, and a quarter of children do not see their fifth birthdays.
Angola is more fortunate than many countries emerging from war because it has a rapidly growing economy fed by rising oil and diamond exports, which are soon to be joined by natural gas production. UNHCR works closely with the government which has announced major infrastructure, health and education investments. The work will take years.
UNHCR, with the greatest presence on the ground of the UN agencies, has taken a lead in the international effort to assist the government through projects it hopes will be catalysts for involving other organisations. It has agreed with the government to spend 80 percent of this year's $12 million budget for Angola to support basic services, promote self-reliance and build up local capacity in the main areas where refugees have returned.
For example, the vocational training centre in Cazombo should eventually become self-sustaining, raising enough from students to cover the costs of the teachers and maintaining the facilities.
The Women's Empowerment Centre that hosts the training has attracted a group of women who are learning to make garments to sell and are baking bread every second day to fund the centre. They are currently accumulating the income in order to start similar women's centres in other areas.
UNHCR has teamed up with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation to spur farm development in a country that has vast potential but huge tracts of abandoned land. Again, the work will have to continue long after the UN refugee agency has ended its initial reintegration programme.
Non-government organisations working with UNHCR have also provided Portuguese lessons to refugees who were born abroad and grew up speaking either French in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or English from their time in refugee camps in Zambia.
UNHCR's goal is to initiate what will be a lengthy process of reintegration.
However, in the battered towns where mines are still being cleared or in the villages that were deserted during the war, returning refugees see reintegration in concrete terms of the crops, houses, schools and clinics they need. They may be happy to back in their homeland, but they are also looking for continued support to ensure that they have a future. UNHCR knows its activities are just a start.
By Jack Redden in Cazombo, Angola
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UNHCR Global Report 2002 - Eastern Europe Regional Overview
1 Jun 2003 ... ... Norway 68,027 68,027 Switzerland 299,401 299,401 United States of America 433,828 433,828 Azerbaijan STATOIL (NOR) 50,000 50,000 United States of America 430,000 430,000 Georgia Germany 402,319 ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2005 - Working with partners
1 Jun 2006 ... ... UNHCR also has a five-year partnership with Statoil, and is engaged in a long-term partnership with ... and treatment during the year. Since 2000, Statoil has cooperated with UNHCR on activities ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2009 - Eastern Europe subregional overview
1 Jun 2010 ... ... Japan Association for UNHCR 1,656 1,656 Private donors in Sweden 2,395 2,395 Romania 70,323 392,405 462,729 Statoil Azerbaijan 65,000 65,000 Switzerland 261,097 403,854 664,951 The Bank of ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2008 - South West Asia subregional overview
1 Jun 2009 ... ... European Commission 2,188,632 2,188,632 Japan 1,500,000 1,500,000 Netherlands 59,468 59,468 Statoil Iran 37,134 37,134 The Mexican Charity Bazar (Iran) 11,994 11,994 Spain 323,834 323,834 United ...... -
Voluntary Funds Administered by the UNHCR: Accounts for the year 2003
17 Sep 2004 ... ... 685 714 SHINNYOEN, JAPAN - 109 244 109 244 STATOIL, NOR - 186 986 186 986 USA FOR UNHCR - 311 443 ... 18 193 STICHTING VLUCTH.NET 115 207 - 115 207 STATOIL, NOR 88 472 - 88 472 USA FOR UNHCR 101 315 - ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Eastern Europe Regional Overview
1 Jun 2005 ... ... Earmarking 1 Donor Annual programme budget Armenia Switzerland 572,264 Sub-total 572,264 Azerbaijan Germany 426,309 Ireland 228,745 Statoil, Norway 50,000 Switzerland 396,825 United States of America ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2003 - Eastern Europe Regional Overview
1 Jun 2004 ... ... Income Contribution Armenia Japan Association for UNHCR (JPN) 8,333 8,333 Switzerland 370,370 370,370 Azerbaijan STATOIL (NOR) 50,000 50,000 United States of America 75,000 75,000 Belarus Lithuania ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Southern Africa Regional Overview
1 Jun 2005 ... ... Miscellaneous donors / Private donors in Italy 156,541 Netherlands 900,000 Norway 1,579,246 Spain 1,738,108 Statoil, Norway 90,000 Switzerland 396,825 United Kingdom 1,305,970 United States of America ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Western Europe Regional Overview
1 Jun 2005 ... ... Western Europe Ireland Ireland 162,128 Sub-total 162,128 Spain Spain 333,335 Sub-total 333,335 Sweden Statoil, Norway 148,368 Sub-total 148,368 Switzerland Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie 39,063 ......